Saint William of Norwich

Catholic Saint

Saint William of Norwich

Feast Day : formerly March 26

William of Norwich supposedly was a boy apprenticed to a tanner in Norwich, England. When he was 12 years old, the Jews in the town plotted to mock the Crucifixion at Passover by kidnaping him, torturing him and murdering him. They bound him up, pierced him with nails to mimic the wounds of Christ and then poured boiling water over him. No historical basis for the story has been found, and it probably was written to appeal to medieval Christian beliefs that, during Passover, Jews would steal children and put them to death. The story served to stir up anti-Jewish sentiments. The complete story, The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich, was written in 1173 by Thomas of Monmouth, a monk in the Norwich Benedictine abbey. The cult is now suppressed.